Spinworkx donates a bunch of yo-yos to Cambodia, read on!

Daniel is currently teaching English in Kampong Speu with his girlfriend but both of them are also involved as Advisors for the two main programs here (Livelihood and Child Protection Programme). The former is to provide means of self-sustenance of food and income for the family while the latter aims at giving children education and proper care. So basically, together, they are trying to tie up both ends due to the fact that if they were to provide education to the kids alone, the kids would slowly be pressured back to the rice fields.

Daniel enjoying a meal with the kids. Photo taken off Sau Sary Foundation's Blog

In addition to that, Daniel is trying to run new programs as well as a means to further the branch of education and livelihood. Currently, he is working on a project where the farmers and families of these poor kids can recycle used plastic bottles to plant their crops so that they would not be bogged down by the lack of land (lack of money, and land issues) while Daniel’s partner, E, is trying to teach the kids to crochet used plastic bags to make bags and wallets as a means to sell them (it’s not child-labor though. Don’t worry!). The kids here are also big on running green gardens to sell, and for personal-use.

Photo taken off the Sao Sary Foundation Blog

“There are 17 children staying at the hub and about 40 more who come daily to attend the English class, computer class and Social & Financial Studies class. There is a handful of them who’re 8-9 while the rest are 11-16. There are a few more who stay here who are aged 19-21. However, I would like to inform you that this physical age is not representative of other kids in Malaysia, Singapore or any developed countries. You can easily find 26 year olds in Phnom Penh who act like they’re 15. This is due to the lack of exposure (those living in the village have no access to the internet, television or newspapers) and the lack of money (for instance, the 19 year old staying here is only in grade 10 but have the English proficiency of a 4th grade American or maturity of a 14year old Malaysian/Singaporean). So, “kids” here’re mostly accepted to be past the age of 18 up to possibly 22. Strange but true.”

“In case you’re wondering, the organization’s building here may look a little urban but it does not represent the kids who come here. Many people who see the pictures sometimes mistakenly think that the poor here’re not so bad. But i’ve made constant visits to their homes and villages where they come from and it is impoverished.”

Kids hard at work thanks to the support of the SSF! Photo taken off the Sao Sary Foundation Blog

Daniel came back to visit Malaysia and Singapore for a 2-week trip and met us on the 26th of July to tell us more about the situation over there, as well as to pick up the contributions that Spinworkx made. Through this meeting, we learnt more about the harsh lifestyles that the people in Cambodia face. It is really not something that we can relate to or even fathom until we actually experience it for ourselves. After almost an hour long chat, it further reinforced our want and desire to spread and share what little we can with Daniel and the children in Cambodia. From the pictures that Daniel had sent us, we knew that our little contribution meant a lot to the children staying and coming to the hub, and that truly made it all worthwhile.

The kids having a ball playing with their new toys!

The hub of this organization’s activities is in the province of Kampong Speu, cited over and over again as one of Cambodia’s poorest due to erratic rainfall, lack of agricultural management, lack of basic amenities (like water), and a lack of land to grow crops for their own consumption.

We would like to thank Daniel and his partner, E, for helping Spinworkx to share and spread the love over at Cambodia, and for selflessly doing their best to enrich the lives of the kids who they teach and interact with daily.

Do check out some pictures of some of the kids from the blog:

Sao Sary Foundation Blog

Spinworkx Article at SSF Blog

To view photos of Spinworkx’s contribution to the community in Cambodia, check out the photos here!

Spinworkx donates to SSF!

Phenom Pouches retailing at SGD$10.90 each

We will be putting them on our webstore soon enough too, so keep a lookout folks!

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Phenom Pouches - SGD$10.90

Leviathan IIs are back, with a new setup!

Kentaro’s Turning Point Leviathan IIs are back in stock, and this time, they are the same ones 2009 Singapore Champion Marcus Koh used to  himself to the top last year!!!

The New Leviathan II comes with a thinner gap and KK bearing

The older Leviathan II comes with a wider bearing gap and regular bearing

For the same price of SGD$229.90, the Leviathan II now comes with a KK bearing, providing it even better string play, yet offering great response with its thinner gap settings!

Available in Pink and Red, both yo-yos are now available at the Spinworkx Store!!!

To top if off, if you request for it, we can get Marcus Koh himself to autograph* your Leviathan II, so that you can have it as a collector’s item in your ever growing yo-yo display set!

Leviathan IIs are now available at the Spinworkx Store and will soon be available for purchase at the Spinworkx Webstore as well so keep a look out!!!!!

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Turning Point Thin Gap Leviathan II (KK Bearing): SGD$229.90

YoyoFactory presents, the Yuuksta

You see, it’s been awhile since we had so much hype over a yo-yo that it’s almost difficult to keep it sitting in our display cabinet for more than 5 minutes! with kids coming up to look at the Yuukstas so often, we weren’t surprise when they were all wiped out over the weekend!

Profile of the Yuuksta

Built to resemble that of a miniature Genesis, the Yuuksta may be small in size, but it’s big on performance!!! Since the 888, which was used by Yuuki Spencer to win his World Championship title, we haven’t had much hype over a Single A yo-yo in awhile. This is now the official yo-yo of choice by one of the BEST players in the world, and we at Spinworkx are proud to say that we’re one of the first few to have it in our stores!!!!

The Yuuksta comes with a Center Trac bearing and Silicon response

Unfortunately, we are sorry to say that those interested will have to wait for our next shipment to get it as they are official SOLD OUT at our stores!!! We will be bringing in more in future so keep a look out!!!

The Yuuksta will be priced at SGD$114.90 at the Spinworkx Store

Retailing at just SGD$114.90, the Yuuksta offers one of the most affordable high performance yo-yos you can get to date!!!

Just wait for the next batch to reach our shores, and get ready your wallets, because the moment they reach the shop, don’t expect them to stay for long!!!!

Ask this question to a few yo-yo players and often you’d hear names like “Speeder”, “Hitman”, and of course, “Dark Magic”.

The Atmosphere by YoyoJam

Though probably not a familiar yo-yo to many of our local players, the Atmosphere would be another yo-yo worth considering, to find out more, read on!

Designed and approved by former 5A World Champion, Makoto Numagami, the Atmosphere is one of YoyoJam’s smallest bi-metal yo-yo, next to the Minimotu.

Unlike the Minimoto, however, the Atmosphere comes updated to today’s competition standards, being tweaked to take handle modern tricks with ease.

The Atmosphere's profile is simple yet elegant

One of the Atmosphere’s greatest feature is its size. This undersized profile means that the yo-yo is small and easy to weave through the most complex of tricks. Yet, with metal weight rings, the yo-yo is well balanced and has enough rim weight to give it longer spin times.

The Atmosphere is well equipped to handle grinds

Just like the New Breed, the Atmosphere comes with a matte surface, which resembles that of a bead blasted metal. This surface allows for much longer grinds as compared to smooth shiny surfaces often seen in YoyoJam’s older models.

The Atmosphere is designed to meet today's specs

To keep this yo-yo up to date, YoyoJam has equipped the Atmosphere with silicon response as well, making it unresponsive and unsuitable for beginners, yet great for professionals who require such specifications for today’s demanding tricks.

In-House Yo-Yo Jedi Master Hans Wong Jensen takes the Atmosphere for a spin

So enough talk, what about actual performance? For this test, we got our local in-house yo-yo master, Hans Wong to give the Atmosphere a full hardcore test run!

Hans gives the Atmosphere a full run down of today's modern tricks

Being well equipped with a modern setup, the Atmosphere eats almost everything you throw at it! Grinds are a breeze thanks to its matte surface, while its long spin times means you can easily pull of a 30 second combo without breaking a sweat!

"Hi Cheng!"

One drawback of the Atmosphere is that is does not have the ability to hold it’s horizontals very well, although that being said, it doesn’t mean it’s not impossible, a well skilled player can still keep this baby sideways for quite some time!

The Atmosphere's small build makes it great for getting through tight spots!

One of the Atmosphere’s best qualities shine when doing difficult tricks like Protrusion! It’s small build allows it to weave through tight areas with ease. Tricks like Chopsticks are easy to pull off, with Hans not having to stretch his fingers far apart to let the yo-yo slip right through.

Behind the back? No problem!

There’s just so much you can do with the Atmosphere, a yo-yo that’s priced at less than half that of YoyoFactory’s aluminum yo-yo Boss. Though two yo-yo aren’t equals in terms of build material, the Atmosphere sure is able to keep up with other high end metals!

The Atmosphere is priced at SGD$71.90 at the Spinworkx Store

YoyoJam has definitely come a long way with it’s bi-metals, making them a highly popular choice even 10 years after their first release came out. The Atmosphere is definitely a marvel to behold, an incredible player YoyoJam has managed to produce.

Retailing at SGD$71.90 at the Spinworkx Store or USD$44.90 at the Spinworkx Webstore, the Atmosphere is definitely worth every penny. If you need to, drop in a KK or Center Trac, and this yo-yo is good enough as an every-day throw…heck, it’ll even be great for competition standards!

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YoyoJam Atmosphere - SGD$71.90, USD$44.90

Ever felt like making your very own video?
Wanted to show off a couple of tricks but could never get it right in front of people?
Unable to attend or come down for our events?

Here is a small contest for YOU!

Do you have what it takes? Take part in the Spinworkx Video Contest!!!

Spinworkx brings to one and all, the Spinworkx Video Contest 2010!

***Unfortunately, as of now the contest is only applicable to Singaporeans, we intend to do an international contest in future so keep an eye out!***

A fairly straight forward and simple contest.
Here are the rules.

1. Make a video of between 1 minute to 2 minutes in length.

2. You can showcase ANY style of play.

3. You have 4 weeks to submit your video. **Closing date: 10th September 2010

4. There will be 3 winning videos. Prizes are for the following categories.
- Most creative tricks
- Best scenery
- Most fun video

5. To submit your video, just fill up the registration page with your details and the link to your video. (REGISTER HERE!)

6. One video can win only ONE prize.

7. You can submit multiple videos, but we recommend you to put all your effort into one video.

8. All videos must showcase an individual player only. (One video cannot showcase more than one player.)

9. One requirement is that the video must somehow incorporate the Spinworkx logo. (Wear Spinworkx Tee, have Spinworkx Sticker on your T-shirt, Spinworkx logo in your video background, etc) You can grab the Spinworkx Logo from this attached picture.

10. Winners stand to win prizes from Duncan, Yoyojam and Yoyofactory!!

Off you go!
Let your creativity take over!

**Winners will be announced shortly after the closing date so stay tuned!

Spinworkx visits the original "home town" to check out China's largest yo-yo contest!

An early morning flight into an unknown country never gone before by Spinworkx.

For the first time in history, Spinworkx was invited to attend the China National Yoyo Contest (CNYC) and who else better to go than our very own 2 “pioneers” of Spinworkx, Roy and Colin. We were invited as special guests as well as help judge this event.

Finally we arrived at Guangzhou, China. The airport was pretty nice in fact, not what we had expected…China has definitely changed a lot in the past few years!

Arriving at the airport in Guangzhou, China

We had Jeyo and Chen Wu (From TVS) pick us up at the airport and on our way to the hotel where all the players nd other judges are staying.

Off to look for our venue!

We next headed out to find the contest venue which was just around the corner from the hotel. Being “aliens” in this country, we had no clue where the venue was and eventually found out we went the wrong way and had to make a u-turn back to the hotel.

Eventually we managed to find this nice and big mall, the Sunny Mall.

The Sunny Mall, home of the 2010 CNYC

Tucked within the main hall of the mall, is the stage for what is to be the China National Yoyo Contest.

The contest being held over the weekend only meant that we had the Friday to ourselves and what did we decide to do? Get lost again..what else…so off we went out of the mall and into the streets once again, to the back alleys, places where we were told not to go to…

Street Food, anyone?

We found some beef “kuay chap”….we had no idea what we were eating,  nor did it taste very good anyways, but we just had to try it…in fact, read on and fine out what else we ate…

The further we walked, the more we got lost and it felt like we were in another dimension or era altogether..everything felt so “different” to us.

Getting lost was fun and exciting!!! How often do you get to check out the back alleys of a foreign land?

But we had to stop and take some “yoyo” shots in the middle of nowhere.

Roy poses for a photo op smack in the middle of China's neighbourhood streets

Walking on, we found more “retro” stuff of yesteryear which many would never ever see in Singapore growing up….when was the last time we had fresh meat hanging for sale instead of in the freezers??

Market places still dominate the Supermarkets we are so conveniently used to having

Well, we had to try more “local” food…Here’s Colin…having some homemade beancurd…

Colin digging into some homemade street side beancurd

Well, we had more food tasting and fruit tasting and got even more lost but that’s another story to be told in person next time you see us…

With that, we head back for dinner with the rest of the “guys” and more sightseeing at night.

Taka poses for a shot while the guys check out Guangzhou's night scene

Yes that’s right, that’s National Yoyo master Takahiko Hasagawa (Taka) with us sightseeing at night….we went to many places in the little time we had to sightsee the night life in Guangzhou.

Kungfu in the park, how often do you see that here??? Heck, how often do we go to parks these days back home?

If you had watched the Karate Kid and saw scenes of people practicing Kungfu in the middle of basketball courts and though hey..that’s only in the movies…well, we thought the same thing until we saw this….a whole group of people practicing Wushu beside a basketball court! There were actually 2 more groups, 1 doing Muay Thai and the other Kingfu…so the movie did not lie after all.

And if you think Day 1 was over? It was NOT…we had supper after midight with the other judges to end off our long and wonderful day

Chilling with the other Knights of the round table

A hungry Mickey is an angry Mickey!

Yes, (World,AP,Japan Champion) Mickey did look rather tired during supper…but still, he still kills with the yoyo even though he was exhausted….
With that we ended Day 1…the next 2 days, are the competition proper….

Day 2 - Qualifying Rounds

It's still early in the morning, btu the crowd of kids have begun pouring in!

The crowd started to gather just before lunchtime and the competitors were busy practicing all around…as the judges gathered to get the event going

Mickey busy entertaining his fans

As usual, everywhere Mickey goes, his fan club followed. He sure was the biggest star of the event. Everyone wanted a piece of the Mickey Pie! He literally had no peace time except for when he was in Starbucks with the Spinworkx posses…

This yo-yo has a unique feature, if you had a Yoho Superspin Diabolo before you'd know what we mean!

I just had to show this…The bottom is a really wide yoyo of origins I do not know but the one on top…literally is a ball which unscrews and assembles into a nice playing yoyo….it’s the first time I’ve seen something like this.

Taken apart and reassembled

Here’s how it looks like when it’s almost complete…Ain’t that the coolest yoyo you’ve seen?

Patrick from Team YoyoFactory gets ready to tear up the stage!

That’s Patrick Mitchell from Yoyofactory before his demo.

Getting a feel of the stage? Definitely!

Couple of the China players practicing on stage before the event…very similar to what you see at Singapore Nationals or AP isn’t it.

Because we were judging, we could take more photos of the event itself as it was unfolding…but we sure had a lot of food photos…

End of Day 2, all the judges headed out for dinner together and then back to the hotel for our much needed rest for the final day of competition.

Day 3: Finals

Today is the day allt he players have been training for…the Finals of the China National Yoyo Contest held in Guangzhou, China.

The competition was intense and highly enjoyable.

There was 1A, 2A/3A, 4A and 5A.

And I must say, the competitive standard in China is amongst the highest I’ve seen. If more of these players show up for future APs, I guarantee you there will be surprises in the medal winners. Do search on Youtube for their freestyle videos and you too will understand what I’m referring to.

Presents given to all those who helped judge the event!

A nice token of appreciation were given to all the judges who helped in this event. Pat, Mickey, Taka, Roy, Ken and Andy were the foreign judges invited for this event, while there were 4 other Chinese judges.

HKYYFC's Ken Wong giving out prizes to some of the winners

Everyone poses for a photo op!

Just  a couple of the prize winners and a BIG contingent coming from Hong Kong

Mickey and Roy pose for a photo

Long time friend and ally, Taka, poses for a photo with Colin and Roy

Of course, our longtime friends of Spinworkx, Mickey and Taka.

With that, we’ve come to the end of our involvement of the competition…but that’s not the end of our day 3 in Guangzhou.

Where we went next courtesy of Kobe (Luo Jianbin) was the highlight of our trip.

We went to a spa with Jacuzzis and Saunas and Massages and a nice buffett…Unfortunately, cameras aren’t allow inside…but we still managed to sneak a few photos. We had the most fun there laughing our guts out and this sure is a night we will remember for a long time to come…

Who went? We have Kobe our host, Mickey, Take, Colin, Roy, Ben McPhee and Patrick Mitchell…Wow, if you look closely, there’s YYJ, YYF, DUNCN all having fun together in a Spa! Never thought we’d ever see the likes of something like that…this only proves yo-yoing has no boundaries  when it comes to friendship.

So the Youth Olympics may be around the corner, but the REAL action was right here!

We also had a little game of Ping poing…here we had YYF vs Duncan! Of course YYF won because they have their ow table in the office they play everyday!

Well, the buffet was delicious and really nice…Would love to have shown more photos but here what we ate….

Crocodile head, Turtle, Friend baby sparrows and the highlight…Scorpions!

Don’t believe me? Here’s a photo to prove it.

The guys chowing down on some menacing looking grub!

With that, we’ve come to the end of our wonderful experience in Guangzhou, China for the China National Yoyo Contest. It surely is one of the best experiences Spinworkx have had in all our years travelling to yoyo contests and we look forward to the next CNYC and hopefully we will be back there again!

Special Thanks goes out to Duncan for sending us to Guangzhou for this wonderful event. Throw Duncan!

This is the Spinworkx crew signing out of CNYC in Guangzhou.

The Duncan Hugo Z Hor

First made famous when it debut in the Czech Republic, Duncan soon saw the potential in this metal yo-yo that came from humble beginnings and decided to give it the professional status it deserves.

Probably the first thing you’d notice when you put a Hugo in your palm is that it has one of the most striking spikes you’d see since SPYY’s signature spikes found in all SPYY yo-yos. When the Hugo was first designed, it’s spikes proved a tad dangerous, so when Duncan took over the yo-yo, they added tweaks to make it safer, meaning it was less likely to hurt when thrown.

The Spikes allows you to spin the yo-yo on your finger like a hubstack yo-yo...except without hubs!

This key feature has also allowed players to test out tricks similar to hubstack yo-yos, only difference would be to have the spike spinning on one’s finger instead of a proper hub system! Admittedly, it takes some getting use to, but once you are comfortable with it, it doesn’t actually hurt at all.

The Hugo Z Hor eats up technical tricks with ease, thanks to its undersized shape

The Hugo was designed for the professional player in mind, and that meant that this baby could handle a lot of today’s modern tricks. From slacks to grinds, the Hugo takes them all with ease. Our only main complaint was that it wasn’t as stable as we would like it to be. A grind wouldn’t be as smooth as you get from a Mayhem for example, but then again this beast for created more for long sleeping tech stuff and not party tricks.

Horizontals? The Hugo wasn't built for it, but it does handle pretty decently for those who dare try

Given its shape, the Hugo would probably appeal more to those who love undersized yo-yos that feel dense in ones hand. The weight gives it good sleep times while the mid sized bearing and silicone sticker set up ensures that this yo-yo stays unresponsive until you command it to return to your hand.

The Hugo is a really good yo-yo if you have that extra cash to splurge

For some of us, the Hugo Z Hor is a great yo-yo to play with, probably not one to use as a main yo-yo. However, given its price, it makes for an excellent second throw, a good toss around yo-yo that provides you the same high performance without all the extra costs you’d get from higher end models.

The Hugo Z Hor by Duncan is retailing at Spinworkx for SGD$129.90 (US$79.99), you can pick one up at the Spinworkx Store or Webstore today!

The Stryker, SPYY's smallest yo-yo yet!

The Stryker has a lower inner wall, providing great spin times with reduced friction

Unlike most of SPYY’s creations, the Stryker is an undersized yo-yo that comes at an affordable price compared to its previous designs.

The lower inner wall means that the yo-yo does not suffer much from string rub, which tend to greatly reduce spin time in other yo-yos.

Being undersized, the Stryker has been designed to allow most of its weight to be distributed around the outer part of the yo-yo, giving it maximum sleep times despite its smaller build.

The Stryker comes with a large Center Trac bearing from Central Bearings Co.

To further add performance to its packaging, SPYY have also given the Stryker Center Trac bearings which help keep the string away from the inner walls and allow it to handle multiple layers of string without slowing down.

Strykers going at SGD$139.90

The Strykers will start retailing at the Spinworkx Store on Saturday, 31st July 2010. Stocks are SUPER limited, so hurry get yours before they run out!!!

International buyers do not fret, we’ll be putting them up on the webstore soon enough as well, so keep an eye out!

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SPYY Styker - SGD$139.90

Purchased a FAST 201 some time after mid 2009 onwards???

For one, the plastic caps are no longer removable, and the yo-yo is not as responsive as it used to be.

Today we teach you an extremely simple task you will need to do if you want to add more response to your FAST 201 in order to make it a great yo-yo for the basics, especially Foundation Level 3 of the Spinworkx Challenge!

All you need is a pin, or mini screw driver

For this, all you need is to remove one side of the O-ring that comes with the FAST 201. Simple right? You will require a pin or mini flat head screw driver to dig the O-ring out. If you are unsure, get an adult to assist you.

Push the pin in from the side, and dig the O-Ring out as shown

Remove only one side, not both O-Rings of the FAST 201

There, you’re done!!! Now your FAST 201 will play similar to that of the previous batches of FAST 201, responsive when set to a thin gap with teeth facing each other, and unresponsive when set wide with staggered starbursts.

Before and After

Not a very long article this weekend round, but we hope this will prove beneficial to those who have a FAST 201 lying around and need it to complete Foundation Level 3 of the Spinworkx Challenge!!!